Fluorine Positional Isomerism Enables H‐Aggregation for High‐Performance Semicrystalline Polymer Donors in Organic Solar Cells

Constructing high-performance semicrystalline polymer donors is often hindered by the trade-off between crystalline order and donor-acceptor miscibility. Herein, we demonstrate that fluorine positional isomerism serves as a precise molecular handle to reconcile this conflict by modulating aggregation behaviors. Through regulating fluorine substitution from alkoxy ortho- (PFo) to meta- (PFm) and para- (PFp) positions, a distinct transition from J-aggregation to H-dominant aggregation is achieved. Contrary to the conventional preference for J-aggregates, the H-aggregated PFp achieves superior photovoltaic performance in this BDF-based polymer system, driven by the synergistic effects of HOMO stabilization, optimized packing, and matched interfacial energetics. Comprehensive dynamical studies, including vibronic analysis and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, reveal that H-aggregation maximizes π-π orbital overlap and optimizes phase separation, thereby suppressing non-radiative recombination and accelerating ultrafast charge transfer. Consequently, PFp-based binary devices deliver a champion efficiency of 18.54%. Furthermore, demonstrating the universality of this strategy, PFp acts as a potent morphology regulator in ternary blends, boosting the efficiency to an impressive 19.77%. This work establishes fluorine positional isomerism as a precise molecular handle to guide H-aggregation, synergistically optimizing energy levels and interfacial miscibility, offering an effective design strategy for high-performance semicrystalline polymer donors.

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Small
Published
2026-07-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.74571
Primary Topic
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Fluorine Positional Isomerism Enables H‐Aggregation for High‐Performance Semicrystalline Polymer Donors in Organic Solar Cells

Wenhao Peng, Meixiu Wan, Yuchen Yue, Jingxia Wang et al.
Small
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
article

Fluorine Positional Isomerism Enables H‐Aggregation for High‐Performance Semicrystalline Polymer Donors in Organic Solar Cells

Wenhao Peng, Meixiu Wan, Yuchen Yue, Jingxia Wang, Jianqi Zhang, Lijun Huo, Jianling Ni, Han Shen, Shisong Sun, Zhenyu Wei, Bing Zheng
article en

Abstract

Constructing high-performance semicrystalline polymer donors is often hindered by the trade-off between crystalline order and donor-acceptor miscibility. Herein, we demonstrate that fluorine positional isomerism serves as a precise molecular handle to reconcile this conflict by modulating aggregation behaviors. Through regulating fluorine substitution from alkoxy ortho- (PFo) to meta- (PFm) and para- (PFp) positions, a distinct transition from J-aggregation to H-dominant aggregation is achieved. Contrary to the conventional preference for J-aggregates, the H-aggregated PFp achieves superior photovoltaic performance in this BDF-based polymer system, driven by the synergistic effects of HOMO stabilization, optimized packing, and matched interfacial energetics. Comprehensive dynamical studies, including vibronic analysis and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, reveal that H-aggregation maximizes π-π orbital overlap and optimizes phase separation, thereby suppressing non-radiative recombination and accelerating ultrafast charge transfer. Consequently, PFp-based binary devices deliver a champion efficiency of 18.54%. Furthermore, demonstrating the universality of this strategy, PFp acts as a potent morphology regulator in ternary blends, boosting the efficiency to an impressive 19.77%. This work establishes fluorine positional isomerism as a precise molecular handle to guide H-aggregation, synergistically optimizing energy levels and interfacial miscibility, offering an effective design strategy for high-performance semicrystalline polymer donors.

Small
Alliance Bioversity International - CIAT (IT), Jinan University (CN), Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (CN), National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Beihang University (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 15%
Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
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